How Fear of Success will Guarantee Failure…or Worse

Let me ask you ONE thing that I want you to keep in mind through this entire post: Are you scared of success OR are you actually just afraid of the unknown?

So while I can relate with you as I too, am human, being afraid of the unknown (which is what this really is) can NOT be a driving factor. The choices you make today can – and should never – be tampered with because you are afraid of what is to come.

Of course, the exception to this rule is if you are doing something unethical or illegal, then I’d be afraid of what is to come! But hey, that is for a post with the title “how to avoid jail, by 10 year veteran fugitive.” Trust me: you don’t want to be the one reading that!

Anyways…Why exactly is it that us humans are so afraid of the unknown or of success?

While I’m not going to answer that question directly, I’m going to try putting it all into perspective for you. Hopefully, you will see why fear of success is far from what you should be afraid of (and no, it’s not me you should be afraid of)!

As always, the goal is not to understand on the deepest level but rather, cultivate a new mindset through awareness. I’m going to help nurture your conscious awareness of WHY fear of success is a scary thing to be afraid of.

How Your Fear of Success will Guarantee Failure

1.) You may not even have a future to come.

I’d like to point your attention to one depressing, yet inevitable fact about all of this that no one can avoid: You might not even make it tomorrow to enjoy your successes – even if you DO achieve them.

Sucks, huh? But it’s a very real thing. You never know when your last opportunity to make an impact on this world will come.

If you fear anything, it should be the fear of no longer being able to make an impact in this world in a positive way. While I’m not telling you how to fear or view life, it is a seemingly morbid topic that people tend to shy away from and ignore.

You can ignore the end all you want, but it won’t ignore you. You’ve got too many things to battle everyday, so many things seemingly going against you. But you can’t let fear of success hold you back. You’ve got to accept and flow with them, instead of the other way around.

Once you bring everything with you in the same direction, you will notice less resistance in nearly everything you do. This will not only create a more fulfilling life, but also one of more personal successes.

Just remember this: You might not even make it, so why not at least give it a try while you still can?

2.) If it’s not success, it’s something else.

Whether you achieve your dreams, ignore them, or put them off for “tomorrow,” something is going to fill your life. Whether that would be making an impact, traveling, or struggling to make ends meet, there is one of those waiting for you at the end of the tunnel.

Think about this: Do you realize that, if you do end up making it to tomorrow (lucky! Do you know how many people don’t?), that something is going to fill your life no matter what?

Life doesn’t care about your specific wants; it just cares about giving a role to everyone in the world. If you aren’t working on making your own dreams become a reality, reality will put its dreams on you. On top of that, I can guarantee (or your money back) this one FACT:

If you don’t work and achieve great things in life, even on a personal level, you will look back and regret NOT the things you did, but those you didn’t.

It’s a harsh reality to be faced with; both the possibility of not making it to tomorrow and your life will be filled with something (which you may want or not) no matter what you do with your time. You’ve got to see these two things before it’s literally too late. You don’t want to be on your “going out” bed and wishing for different outcomes on your life.

3.) When the unknown is inevitable, what is there to fear?

Think about it. Ponder on this one for a minute…or maybe five. Personally, I’d rather make good use of my time today so that tomorrow, I have something to show for it. I hope you are starting to feel the same. Here’s a great quote that can relate to all of this:

“Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway.” – Earl Nightingale

Understand that being able to work on YOUR dreams now will ensure that failure is NOT an option. You are actually lucky you are hearing this now rather than later, because there will come a point when you won’t be able to put into play relentless action.

Please, I beg you to remember that, the only way failure will come into your life is if you let it.

How do you let it? By NOT crafting life on your own terms. Taking action on what is important and not letting failure sit at your front porch for eternity while you contemplate how scary success is.

What’s scary is that you are wasting energy, time, and resources – all to what? For fear of success?

No! You aren’t afraid of success, you are actually afraid of the unknown and the future. But if that is the case, then you should be afraid of failure, too (as it too, is unknown, everything in the future is)!

Failure is guaranteed if you don’t act on it. Act on it, craft life how you want it to play out, and STOP fighting inevitable things. Sure, life isn’t going to go as planned. But it will go a lot smoother if you work on life rather than letting it work on you.

Stop Being Afraid of Success!

Don’t allow the unknown or fear of success stop you. Instead, make it a driving factor for your actions. Knowing that you might not even make it should be a motivator in itself; but so should the possibilities of what will happen if you don’t craft your future on your own terms.

Dustyn is a blogger over on PersonalSelf that enjoys helping others improve their lives through mindfulness and conscious awareness. Dig this article? Check out PersonalSelf.com and see what he is up to next! Or follow him on Twitter @dfergos